The Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive plan was obvious: Stop the
run.
That didn’t deter Michael Turner and the Atlanta Falcons.
Turner ran for three touchdowns and the Atlanta Falcons scored the first 24
points to beat Kansas City 38-14 on Sunday, handing the Chiefs their 12th
straight loss.
Turner had scoring runs of 4, 1 and 2 yards, his first game with three rushing
touchdowns, while leading the Falcons with 104 yards rushing. Jerious Norwood
added 75 yards rushing....more
Team
Total Yds
Pass Yds
Rush Yds
First Downs
3rdD%
Pen./Yds
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
Chiefs
312
128
184
16
44.4%
3/13
3
29:50
Falcons
378
192
186
16
46.2%
4/22
1
30:10
Scoring Summary
KC - ATL
1st Quarter
3:20
ATL
TD
Michael Turner rushed up the middle for 4 yard gain
(Jason Elam made PAT)
0 - 7
0:07
ATL
TD
Matt Ryan passed to Roddy White down the middle for
70 yard gain (Jason Elam made PAT)
0 - 14
2nd Quarter
9:15
ATL
FG
Jason Elam kicked a 27-yard field goal
0 - 17
2:11
ATL
TD
Michael Turner rushed up the middle for 1 yard gain
(Jason Elam made PAT)
0 - 24
0:03
KC
TD
Tyler Thigpen passed to Dwayne Bowe to the right for
15 yard gain (Nick Novak made PAT)
7 - 24
3rd Quarter
9:49
KC
TD
Larry Johnson rushed up the middle for 1 yard gain
(Nick Novak made PAT)
14 - 24
5:13
ATL
TD
Michael Turner rushed up the middle for 2 yard gain
(Jason Elam made PAT)
14 - 31
4th Quarter
1:01
ATL
TD
Chris Houston intercepted Tyler Thigpen for 10 yards
(Jason Elam made PAT)
14 - 38
Team Statistics
KC
ATL
First Downs
16
16
Passing
7
7
Rushing
9
9
Penalty
0
0
Third Down Efficiency
8-18
6-13
Fourth Down Efficiency
1-2
0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS
301
378
Total Plays
71
54
Average Gain Per Play
4.2
7.0
NET YARDS RUSHING
184
186
Rushes
33
36
Average Per Rush
5.6
5.2
NET YARDS PASSING
117
192
Completions-Attempts
14-36
12-18
Yards Per Pass Play
3.1
10.7
Times Sacked
2
0
Yards Lost to Sacks
11
0
Had Intercepted
3
0
PUNTS
6
6
Average Punt
51.5
43.2
PENALTIES
3
4
Penalty Yards
13
22
FUMBLES
2
1
Fumbles Lost
0
1
TIME OF POSSESSION
29:50
30:10
Pregame Previews, Storylines,
and News
Preview:
New Page 1
The Atlanta Falcons drafted Matt Ryan and
handed him the starting quarterback job, knowing he would make mistakes as he
learned.
The Kansas City Chiefs only wish they had someone to put in such a scenario.
Two teams dealing with opposite situations at quarterback meet when the Falcons
host the Chiefs on Sunday.
Ryan was superb in his first NFL start, throwing a 62-yard touchdown pass on his
first throw and leading Atlanta to a 34-21 win over Detroit in the season
opener. Last week, he played more like a rookie, making several mistakes as the
Falcons lost 24-9 to Tampa Bay...more
Inside the Game Plans:
Notable:
CHIEFS: It's simple,
and repetitive. Run the ball and stop the run. The Chiefs, who rushed
for only 55 games against Oakland, have to run against the eight-man
fronts the Falcons will use to take some pressure off young QB Tyler
Thigpen in just his first NFL start. But Thigpen has to make some
passes, too, to back defenders out of the box to help out his runners.
Defensively, they have to stop Michael Turner and the powerful Falcons
running game and put the pressure on rookie QB Matt Ryan to make winning
plays...FULL
STORY
FALCONS: The Falcons
found out that quarterback Matt Ryan can't shoulder the offense yet and
that they absolutely must be able to run the ball. The Bucs dared him to
throw the ball and his was off target early before settling down. The
plan will call for a heavy dose of Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood
before they selectively sprinkle in the passing game...FULL
STORY
After posting 13 rushes of 10 yards or more in Week 1,
the Falcons had two such runs in Week 2 vs. Tampa Bay. Atlanta could
muster up just thirty-five 10+ yard runs in 2007 (T-24th fewest in
league) and its 15 long runs this season leads the NFL.
Larry Johnson has 34 carries for 96 yards and zero
touchdowns thus far in 2008. Since rushing for 3,539 yards and 37
touchdowns in 2005 and 2006 combined, Johnson has 655 yards on the
ground and just three touchdowns in 10 games since the beginning of last
season
Falcons’ Robinson aims for more catches
Atlanta Journal
Constitution
Back in 2005, running back
Michael Turner made his first start in the NFL
against the Kansas City Chiefs. “That was a very
long time ago,” Turner said. ...
Falcons game will feature battle of top-five
picks
Atlanta Journal
Constitution
“I’ma Chief. That’s in the past.
The draft is over and now it’s time to play
football.” Dorsey will line up across Falcons
second-year guard Justin Blalock. ...
20.9
14.1